Types of crimes against people exercise part 2

In this second part of two online exercises on criminal offences you will learn, understand and remember the names of more crimes where the result is injury or damage (physical, emotional or psychological) to people. These are the names of the crimes in the "common law" legal system, the system of law which is used in the majority of English-speaking countries.

Do the quiz at the end of the exercise to both ensure you correctly understand the different criminal offences and to help you to remember them in the future.

I would recommend that you also do the first part of this exercise, it will give you a thorough understanding of the topic. It really doesn't matter which part you do first. But I would recommend doing both parts.

Exercise: Crimes against people

Read the following conversation between two friends, Peter and Juan, who are continuing to talk about crimes which are either violent or against people.

The words in bold are the names of different types of criminal offences. Remember them because at the end of the text there is a quiz to check your understanding.

Juan:'So, if I was threatened and then physically attacked by a stranger or a friend, then that person could be charged with assault and battery, and if the injuries were more serious, it would be aggravated assault and battery?'

Peter:'Yes, they would be.'

Juan:'Would it be the same if the person was a member of my family or an ex-partner?'

Peter:'Even though the crimes are basically the same (i.e. you are attacked), the crime is called domestic violence or aggravated domestic violence if the perpetrator, the person doing it, is or was a member of your family. And the courts will often punish the person who did it more severely.'

Juan:'That makes sense. I have a question. What does aggravated mean? It seems to make crimes more serious and you are punished more if you are convicted.'

Peter:'Basically, it does. With aggravated assault and battery for example, it means the injuries were a lot more severe than with simple assault and battery.'

Juan:'And what about aggravated burglary?'

Peter:'In addition, aggravated is also often added to some crimes which are not necessarily violent. So if it is added to burglary or sexual assault, it means that violence or the threat of violence (maybe with a weapon) were also used when the crime was being committed. And you will be punished more if convicted of the crime.'

Juan:'When you say sexual assault, you mean when somebody rapes someone?'

Peter:'No, they are different. Rape is a more serious crime than sexual assault.'

Juan:'But in both a person forces somebody to have sexual intercourse with them against their will or without consent.'

Peter:'Actually, no. Rape is what you just described, where there is penetration of the penis in the other person's mouth, vagina or anus. Whereas with sexual assault, there is physical contact but no penetration. The person is touched in or is made to touch certain areas of the body (e.g. a woman's breasts) against their will or without consent by another person for sexual gratification.'

Juan:'And would it be sexual assault if a person made repeated sexual comments about another person?'

Peter:'No, it wouldn't. If someone makes repeated socially inappropriate comments (e.g. sexual, racial, critical etc...) to or about another person or repeatedly makes any type of threatening comments to or about them which harms a person emotionally or psychologically, it is a criminal offence called harassment.'

Juan:'And what is the crime called when you take somebody somewhere against their will or without their consent, like stealing a person.'

Peter:'It depends on the reason why you are taking them.'

Juan:'I don't understand what you mean.'

Peter:'Well, if you take somebody to somewhere against their will or without their consent and then hold them there to force another person to do something for you (like pay you money or to do an action) then the criminal offence is called kidnapping. Whereas if you do basically the same, but you are not doing it to force another person to do something for you, then that would be called abduction, which is a less serious crime.'

Juan:'So if I took an ex-partner against her will to my house and stopped her from leaving because I was jealous and angry, that would be abduction, wouldn't it?'

Peter:'Yes, it would. And you would also probably be charged with the crime of false imprisonment for stopping her from leaving your house as well.'

Click to see more legal English exercises

Quiz:

Below is a definition/description of each of the crimes in bold from the above text. Now choose the crime from the question's selection box which you believe answers each question. Only use one crime once. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, two icons will appear next to the question which you can press/click on. In the first icon, , you can find extra information about the word/phrase (e.g. when, where and how to use etc...). In the second, , is where you can listen to the word/phrase.

1. When somebody forces another person to have sexual intercourse against their will or without their consent, it is called

Rape:
(noun) It is a type of "sexual assault" where there has been a form of non-consensual sexual intercourse/penetration in the mouth, vagina or anus. A person can be raped by use of physical force, by use of threats or by having been incapacitated with alcohol or drugs. "Rape" is more severely punished than the crime of "sexual assault", where there has been no penetration, but physical contact/touching.

Rape:

2. When somebody takes a person against their will or without their consent and holds them to make another person do something or pay them money, it is called

Kidnapping:
(noun) It is the taking of a person against his or her will (e.g. taking one person from one place to another) either through force (or the threat of) or deception (pretending to be a police officer for example). The person is then held against their will or restricted to a confined space (which is another crime called "false imprisonment"). This is very similar to the criminal act of "abduction", which is a less serious crime in theory.

However, the difference between the two is based on the motive behind the act. If there is a financial motive for taking and holding the person (to get a ransom for example) or they are being used to make somebody do something (to not testify in court for example), then it would be regarded as "kidnapping". If not, it would be regarded as "abduction".

Kidnapping:

3. When violence or the threat of violence occurs in a crime which is normally non-violent (e.g burglary), this word is added to it

Aggravated:
(noun) Can be added to a series of crimes which means that violence (which caused harm or more serious harm in the case of "aggravated assault" ) or the threat of violence was used in the crime. In the case of "aggravated burglary", it means that the perpetrator not only burgled the property, but also used or threatened violence whilst doing it. With "aggravated robbery", it means whilst in the act of committing a robbery there is the use of violence or the threat of imminent violence (generally with a deadly weapon) to people. Adding "aggravated" to a crime, suggests the crime was more harmful to the victim(s). As a result, it is more severely punished.

Aggravated:

4. When somebody assaults and batters a member of their family or an ex-partner, it is called

Domestic violence:
(noun) It is also known as "domestic assault and battery" or occasionally "intimate partner violence". It is when someone in a domestic setting (a partner, ex-partner, child or other family member) is physically harmed or where there is the threat of violence and there is emotional and psychological damage as a result. The people don't have to live together for it to be the crime of "domestic violence", but are in or have had a family like or romantic relationship. Although it is basically the same as "assault and battery", the crime of domestic violence is more severely punished in the courts. And the punishment given by the courts is increased if someone is convicted of the crime more than once.

Legally, "domestic violence" is different from "domestic abuse". Although violence or the threat of violence does form a part of "domestic abuse", it also covers a lot of other recurring abusive behaviours (emotional, financial, religious, reproductive, financial or sexual) which are used by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another, some of which are not crimes in themselves. In many places "domestic abuse" is not actually a crime, whereas "domestic violence" is. However, some of the things which are involved in "domestic abuse" actually are (like false imprisonment, where an adult is forced to stay in a place against their will). So the person would be charged with these instead of "domestic abuse".

Domestic violence:

5. Repeated non-physically violent behaviour and comments which causes the person receiving it to be emotionally and psychologically affected, is called

Harassment:
(noun) It is a type of repeated non-physically violent behaviour which results in discomfort, fear, or significant emotional distress to the person receiving it. "Harassment" can include one or more of the following types of behaviour: making repeated threats to a person, engaging in intimidation towards a person, making repeated unkind and aggressive comments towards a person. Harassment can be verbal, physical or visual. Repeated unkind comments or jokes about a person's race, religion or sexuality would be viewed as harrassment.

Harassment:

6. When somebody takes a person against their will or without their consent and holds them, but not to make another person do something or pay them money, it is called

Abduction:
(noun) It is the taking of a person against his or her will (e.g. taking one person from one place to another) either through force (or the threat of) or deception (pretending to be a police officer for example). The person is then often held against their will or restricted to a confined space (which is another crime called "false imprisonment"). It would also be regarded as "abduction" when a parent who doesn't have legal custody of their children, disappears or takes them away from the parent who does.

This is very similar to the criminal act of "kidnapping", which is a more serious crime in theory. However, the difference between the two is based on the motive behind the act. If there isn't a financial motive for taking and holding the person (to get a ransom for example) or they are not being used to make somebody do something (to not testify in court for example), then it would be regarded as "abduction". If there was, it would be regarded as "kidnapping".

Abduction:

7. When somebody touches another person's body in a very sexual way against their will or without their consent, but does not have sexual intercourse, it is called

Sexual assault:
(noun) It is a crime which consists of any contact without consent of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person with the objective of sexual gratification. Although in theory "rape" is a type of "sexual assault", in the legal system they refer to different offences. With "sexual assault", it refers to a crime where there has been no actual sexual intercourse/penetration, whereas with "rape", there has been.

Sexual assault:

If you haven't done it already, do the first part of this exercise to learn more types of crimes which are violent or against people.

Click to see more legal English exercises

Practice

Now that you understand the new vocabulary, practise it by creating your own sentences with the new words/phrases.

This is me, Chris Clayton, the owner and main writer for Blair English. I'm also a part-time English teacher in sunny Spain. I have a love of history and the web. I hope you find the website useful.